Introduction
Part I: Web Basics Refresher 7
Chapter 1: Workings of the Web 9
A Short History of the Internet........................................................... 9
The World Wide Web..................................................................... 10
Introducing HTTP............................................................................ 14
The HTTP Request and Response................................................... 15
HTML Forms.................................................................................. 17
Summary......................................................................................... 20
chapter 2: Writing and Styling Pages in HTML and CSS 21
Introducing HTML.......................................................................... 21
Elements of an HTML Page............................................................. 23
A More Advanced HTML Page...................................................... 27
Some Useful HTML Tags................................................................ 29
Adding Your Own Style.................................................................. 30
Defining the Rules............................................................................ 31
Add a Little class............................................................................. 31
Applying Styles................................................................................ 33
Formatting Text with Styles.............................................................. 35
Adding Lines................................................................................... 39
Summary......................................................................................... 40
Chapter 3: Anatomy of an Ajax Application 41
The Need for Ajax.......................................................................... 41
Introducing Ajax.............................................................................. 43
The Constituent Parts of Ajax.......................................................... 45
Putting It All Together...................................................................... 47
Summary......................................................................................... 49
Part II: Introducing Web Scripting with JavaScript 51
chapter 4: Creating Simple Scripts in JavaScript 53
Tools for Scripting........................................................................... 53
Displaying Time with JavaScript....................................................... 54
Beginning the Script......................................................................... 55
Adding JavaScript Statements.......................................................... 55
Creating Output............................................................................... 56
Adding the Script to a Web Page..................................................... 57
Testing the Script............................................................................. 58
JavaScript Syntax Rules................................................................... 65
Using Comments............................................................................. 66
Best Practices for JavaScript............................................................ 67
Summary......................................................................................... 69
chapter 5: Working with the Document Object Model (DOM) 71
Understanding Objects.................................................................... 71
Understanding the Document Object Model (DOM)........................ 72
Working with Web Documents........................................................ 74
Accessing Browser History.............................................................. 77
Working with the location Object..................................................... 78
Summary......................................................................................... 80
chapter 6: Using Variables, Strings, and Arrays 81
Using Variables............................................................................... 81
Understanding Expressions and Operators....................................... 85
Data Types in JavaScript................................................................. 86
Converting Between Data Types...................................................... 88
Using String Objects........................................................................ 89
Working with Substrings.................................................................. 92
Using Numeric Arrays..................................................................... 94
Using String Arrays.......................................................................... 96
Sorting a Numeric Array.................................................................. 98
Summary....................................................................................... 101
chapter 7: Using Functions and Objects 103
Using Functions............................................................................. 103
Introducing Objects....................................................................... 108
Using Objects to Simplify Scripting................................................ 109
Extending Built-in Objects.............................................................. 112
Summary....................................................................................... 115
chapter 8: Controlling Flow with Conditions and Loops 117
The if Statement............................................................................. 118
Using Shorthand Conditional Expressions....................................... 121
Testing Multiple Conditions with if and else..................................... 122
Using Multiple Conditions with switch............................................ 124
Using for Loops............................................................................. 125
Using while Loops......................................................................... 128
Using do...while Loops................................................................. 128
Working with Loops...................................................................... 129
Looping Through Object Properties............................................... 131
Summary....................................................................................... 134
chapter 9: Using Built-In Functions and Libraries 135
Using the Math Object................................................................... 135
Working with Math Functions........................................................ 137
Using the with Keyword................................................................ 139
Working with Dates....................................................................... 140
Using Third-Party Libraries............................................................ 143
Other Libraries.............................................................................. 144
Summary....................................................................................... 145
Part III: Introducing Ajax 147
chapter 10: The Heart of Ajax-the XMLHTTPRequest Object 149
Introducing XMLHTTPRequest..................................................... 149
Creating the XMLHTTPRequest Object........................................ 150
Summary....................................................................................... 156
chapter 11: Talking with the Server 157
Sending the Server Request........................................................... 157
Monitoring Server Status............................................................... 162
The Callback Function................................................................... 163
Summary....................................................................................... 166
chapter 12: Using the Returned Data 167
The responseText and responseXML Properties............................ 167
Parsing responseXML................................................................... 171
Providing User Feedback.............................................................. 172
Summary....................................................................................... 174
Chapter 13: Our First Ajax Application 175
Constructing the Ajax Application.................................................. 175
The HTML Document................................................................... 176
Adding JavaScript......................................................................... 177
Putting It All Together.................................................................... 180
Summary....................................................................................... 184
Part IV: Server-side Scripting with PHP 185
Chapter 14: Getting to Know PHP 187
PHP Basics................................................................................... 187
Your First PHP Script................................................................... 190
Summary....................................................................................... 194
chapter 15: Variables 195
Understanding Variables................................................................ 195
Data Types.................................................................................... 197
Working with Numbers.................................................................. 198
Numeric Data Types...................................................................... 200
Numeric Functions......................................................................... 200
Working with Strings..................................................................... 202
Formatting Strings.......................................................................... 203
String Functions............................................................................. 205
Working with Arrays..................................................................... 206
Array Functions............................................................................. 208
Date Formats................................................................................ 209
Working with Timestamps.............................................................. 210
Summary....................................................................................... 213
Chapter 16: Flow Control 215
Conditional Statements.................................................................. 215
Loops........................................................................................... 220
Summary....................................................................................... 222
Chapter 17: Functions 223
Using Functions............................................................................. 223
Arguments and Return Values........................................................ 225
Using Library Files......................................................................... 229
Summary....................................................................................... 229
Chapter 18: Using Classes 231
Object-Oriented PHP.................................................................... 231
What Is a Class?........................................................................... 232
Creating and Using Objects........................................................... 233
Summary....................................................................................... 236
Part V: More Complex Ajax Technologies 237
Chapter 19: Returning Data as Text 239
Getting More from the responseText Property................................ 239
Summary....................................................................................... 245
Chapter 20: AHAH-Asynchronous HTML and HTTP 247
Introducing AHAH........................................................................ 247
Creating a Small Library for AHAH............................................... 248
Using myAHAHlib.js..................................................................... 250
Summary....................................................................................... 255
Chapter 21: Returning Data as XML 257
Adding the x to Ajax................................................................... 257
The responseXML Property.......................................................... 258
Project-An RSS Headline Reader............................................... 262
Summary....................................................................................... 269
chapter 22: Web Services and the REST and SOAP Protocols 271
Introduction to Web Services......................................................... 271
REST-Representational State Transfer......................................... 272
Using REST in Practice.................................................................. 274
Web Services Using SOAP........................................................... 278
The SOAP Protocol...................................................................... 279
Using Ajax and SOAP................................................................... 282
Reviewing SOAP and REST.......................................................... 283
Summary....................................................................................... 284
chapter 23: A JavaScript Library for Ajax 285
An Ajax Library............................................................................ 285
Reviewing myAHAHlib.js.............................................................. 286
Implementing Our Library.............................................................. 287
Using the Library........................................................................... 290
Summary....................................................................................... 293
chapter 24: Ajax Gotchas 295
Common Ajax Errors.................................................................... 295
The Back Button........................................................................... 296
Bookmarking and Links................................................................. 297
Telling the User That Something Is Happening................................ 297
Making Ajax Degrade Elegantly..................................................... 297
Dealing with Search Engine Spiders................................................ 298
Pointing Out Active Page Elements................................................. 299
Don't Use Ajax Where It's Inappropriate...................................... 299
Security......................................................................................... 300
Test Code Across Multiple Platforms............................................. 300
Ajax Won't Cure a Bad Design..................................................... 301
Some Programming Gotchas.......................................................... 301
Summary....................................................................................... 302
Part VI: Ajax Tools and Resources 303
Chapter 25: The prototype.js Toolkit 305
Introducing prototype.js................................................................. 305
Wrapping XMLHTTPRequest-the Ajax Object........................... 308
Example Project-Stock Price Reader.......................................... 311
Summary....................................................................................... 313
chapter 26: Using Rico 315
Introducing Rico............................................................................ 315
Rico's Other Interface Tools.......................................................... 320
Summary....................................................................................... 324
Chapter 27: Using Script.aculo.us 325
Downloading the Library................................................................ 325
Including the Files.......................................................................... 326
Using Effects................................................................................. 326
Building the Script.......................................................................... 327
Summary....................................................................................... 329
Chapter 28: Using XOAD 331
Introducing XOAD........................................................................ 331
XOAD HTML.............................................................................. 334
Advanced Programming with XOAD............................................. 337
Summary....................................................................................... 338
Appendix: JavaScript, PHP, and Ajax Websites 339
Glossary 343
TOC, 0672329654, 6/6/2008
